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Trivandrum Declaration
IEEE-R10-GOLD International Conference
Humanitarian Technology Challenges of the 21st Century
Outcome Document
The Trivandrum Declaration
We, the participants of the IEEE-R10-GOLD International Conference “Humanitarian Technology Challenges of the 21st Century” at Trivandrum, Kerala, India,
Being engineers, development professionals, government officers, academicians, scientists, environmental activists, community workers and students,
Having met in Trivandrum during 20-21 February 2010 to discuss challenges in developing, implementing, maintaining, managing and sustaining technologies for achieving humanitarian development objectives,
and,
Acknowledging the significant synergy that could exist between the engineering fraternity and those utilizing technologies in the development sector,
Jointly resolve the following:
We
believe that the engineering fraternity has a responsibility for assisting the development sector with their skills and competencies;
uphold the view that communities should be at the centre of development efforts, and that development and technical organizations should keep community interests central while designing interventions;
urge that humanitarian challenges should be worked on proactively, rather than wait for disasters to happen to respond;
consider it important to ensure that adequate time and funding are made available for long-term goals;
want to ensure that technologies developed are localized for better adoption by communities;
call for development of appropriate, user-friendly, energy efficient, ecologically and economically sustainable solutions to humanitarian needs;
seek inclusive access for all, especially the most vulnerable sections such as the poor, women and children, the elderly and the differently-abled;
encourage diverse partnerships at various levels between entities working in the development and humanitarian sector; and
call for setting up a mechanism for continuation of interactions initiated at this conference.
We, the participants of this Conference, affirm on this occasion, that we will work towards addressing humanitarian challenges jointly with IEEE, and in this manner seek to work towards the application of engineering solutions for the benefit of humanity.
Adopted on 21 Feb 2010 at Trivandrum, Kerala, India.